Qman 1132 Bun Shop Set Review (Not Lego)

Hey and welcome back to my Its Not Lego blog!  Today's set review is this Bun shop by Qman brand.  This is the first Qman set to be added to my collection of not Lego building sets.

TL:DR

Here's the synopsis, if you just want the details.

Model: Qman Bun Shop
Set Number: 1132
Number of pieces: 112
Number of minifigures: 2

Fake Lego?  No.
Missing Parts: N/ Deformed pieces: N/ Scratched pieces: N
#itsnotlego Rating:  3 out of 5 stars.  The set is ok for the price but the minifigures are not Lego standard.

Here are the other Qman sets listed on the back of the instruction booklet.  There are six other sets in this series of City themed buildings and vehicles.  Set numbers range from 1131 through 1137.

There's just 1 bag of parts for this small set.  I think the set name is supposed to be Golden Baozi shop but Qman got the english spelling wrong, so it's called Gloden Baozi shop.

Sadly, no printed parts. Here's the sticker sheet.  You can see that in the lower corner, it's printed as Enlighten 1132.  So Qman is a sister brand to Enlighten.  As with most Enlighten brand sets, the brick quality and clutch is pretty good.  The clear parts are not scratched or deformed.

The minifigures that come with this set are not compatible with Lego minifigures.  Here you can see that even the parts that make the minifigs are completely different.  I can't even salvage any of it for use with other minifigs.  I'll just end up giving these figures away.

Here's how the minifigs look after assembly.  You get one boy and one girl minifigure and I think the boy works in the shop because he has an order pad in his pocket. I've included a couple of random Lego style minifigures in the picture for comparison purposes.

This is a very easy build and a good beginner set for little kids.  The shop is pretty basic but it has a light fixture, a computer for taking orders and some sauce bottles. I like the little buns and the steamers on the counter.

The yellow brick that sticks out is supposed to be a sign which you get a sticker for.  There's also stickers for the store banner, the computer screen and menu above the steamers. I didn't add any of the stickers yet.  I think Qman did a good job in designing the steamer fixture above the shop.

Other sets this size don't usually have a back wall but this bun shop does.  It even has a door and curved glass wall.  I wonder if they could have just made a solid wall instead of the curved glass.  If I were to rebuild this set, I would add my own bricks to complete the back corner and then move the curved window to the front of the shop.  The set also comes with a table and stool so patrons can sit and enjoy their buns.

Summary

The Qman 1132 Gloden Baozi Shop is a nice little build for the younger kids.  At just 122 pieces, it's not too challenging but will have a lot of play value.  One could add more tables and have lots of minifigs come and enjoy the buns.  If I could change anything, it would be to have standard Lego style minifigures and having extra buns.  I paid about $5 Cdn from Aliexpress for this set.  That included the free shipping.

Sembo Block 601070 Japanese Crab Shop (Not Lego) Set Review

Hey and welcome back to my Its Not Lego blog!  Hope you guys are all doing well and staying safe.  Today we will be looking at another set by Sembo Blocks.

TL:DR

Here's the synopsis, if you just want the details.

Model: Sembo Japanese Crab Restaurant
Set Number: 601070
Number of pieces: 341+
Number of minifigures: 3

Fake Lego?  No.
Missing Parts: N/ Deformed pieces: N/ Scratched pieces: N
#itsnotlego Rating:  4.5 out of 5 stars, excellent play value, solid build, excellent clutch, wish it was bigger.

On the back of the instruction manual, Sembo shows you all of the other Japanese themed shops in the series.  From what I can tell there are six different shops.

Just wanted to point out that the parts bags are numbered.

The crab restaurant sits on a 20x16 stud base plate.  The building itself is 18 studs wide but only about 8 studs deep.  In the front of the shop, there's two large windows and an entrance.  On one side you can probably watch them steam the crabs in the cooking area.  On the other side there is a tank that holds the fresh crabs.  Outside of the shop is another stand-alone tank with more crabs.

The inside of the crab restaurant is mostly empty except for the grill and prep area.

Here's the sticker sheets and the fabric banner.  I won't be installing the stickers just yet.

This is how the shop looks just before placing the shop banner.  There's lots of signage which looks bare without the stickers.  There's also some extra details over the crab tank.

Here's a side view of the crab restaurant.  I really like the big distinctive crab on the second floor.  Too bad they didn't put any walls on the side of the second floor.

The second floor is supposed to be the restaurant and seating area, except I haven't put the pieces in place because I plan on rebuilding the set as a modular building.  At that time, I will add the furnishings to make it look more legit.

Minifigures

You get three minifigures with this set, the crab shop owner and two japanese ladies in their colorful kimonos.

Summary

The Sembo Japanese crab restaurant is a fun little build.  From a parts to price perspective, it's a tad more than I want to pay, costing around $20 USD.  I think the shop could have been more detailed but I do like the crab sign.  Like the other Sembo japanese shops I have reviewed, this set doesn't scale very well with the minifigures. The external crab tank is way too tall and the minifigures wouldn't be able to reach what's on top very easily.   For this reason, I only give it a 4.5 out of 5.    I will be rebuilding this set soon as a modular building.  Look for that review in the near future!   Thanks and bye for now!

Sembo 601065-601068 Not Lego Japanese Shops Set Review

Sembo Japanese Shops

Hey what's up everyone!  Welcome back to Its Not Lego, where I show you my latest haul of alternate and knock-off brick sets.  A couple of months ago, I saw these little Japanese shops on Aliexpress and had to get them.  Well this week, they finally arrived and I've had a blast building them.

There are four different Japanese shops in the series, made by Sembo.  

Each set comes with a double sided instruction sheet, stickers and 4 bags of parts.  They also come with 2 minifigures, one male and one female.

Here's something interesting, you have to assemble this guy's feet below the knee joint separately.  This was the only minifigure in the entire series that I had to do this for.

All of the minifigures are nicely detailed with back and arm printing.

Each set gets an individually wrapped fabric banner and a sticker sheet.   At the time of these pictures, I still hadn't applied any of the stickers yet.

Here's another oddity, this 5 stud tile piece.

 Here's the artwork for for the four sembo shops.  Clockwise from top left, there is a takoyaki shop, a sushi stand, a shaved ice shop, and a ramen stand. Let's now take a closer look at each set.

Sembo 601065 Takoyaki shop

The box art indicates that the takoyaki set is set 601065 and has about 177 pieces.

 Here's the assembled set without stickers.  The takoyaki set comes with an two fabric banners.  On one side there is a lantern and on the other is a free standing sign.  There are 24 takoyakis being made, four sauce bottles and two gray mugs.  There's also a yellow bowl, which the minifigure is not balancing on her head, it just looks that way in the picture.  Each banner has convenient holes cut-out of them.  You then attach the shop banner via small bricks.

 Here's set 601065 from the back.  Each shop is mounted on a gray 16x10 stud plate, however not every shop uses that much space. The shopkeeper has to stand on a platform to oversee his wares.

The minifigs.

The sticker sheet  for the takoyaki shop.

Sembo 601066 Sushi shop

Next up is the sushi shop.  Box art says it's set 601066 with 178 pieces.

The sushi shop doesn't get a roof but does have four different signs, none of which I stickered.  This sushi chef must not be very good at his craft because instead of using a sharp knife, he's got a giant cleaver.

This shop only has room for three customers, which isn't unusual in Japan because there shops are sooo small there.  Luckily there are three stools so you get to sit down at this shop.  Some sushi shops in Japan make you stand up while eating, true fact!

Around the back of the sushi shop we see that the shopkeeper also has to stand on a platform.  And here I thought that the Japanese people were taller.

The minifigs.

The sushi shop stickers.

Sembo 601067 Shaved Ice shop

The shaved ice shop is Sembo set 601067 with 168 pieces.

This bright blue shop really stands out next to the other shops. The blue banner wraps all the way around the roof. On the counter there's a giant ice machine and three servings of shaved ice.  I don't know what the two red urns are supposed to be.

The back is fully enclosed, but luckily the roof hinges upward so you can put the minifigure inside the shop. Although you can't see it, the shopkeeper stands on a platform.

The minifigs.

The sticker sheet for the shaved ice shop.

Sembo 601068 Ramen shop

The last set is the ramen shop, set number 601068 and 169 pieces.

This ramen shop has a red lantern and free standing sign.  Two stools and two bowls.  Bonus accessory is is bicycle which is used to deliver the ramen.

 Around back we see thatramen seller has to get a lift.

The sticker sheet for the Ramen shop.

Street View

 I took one of my 32x32 stud baseplates and put all four shops on it to give it a Japanese street feel.  I also added some extra minifigures to make the scene look a bit more lively.

Final thoughts

They are all very unique looking and the build quality is great.  I would have preferred printed pieces instead of all the stickers.

The minifigures were excellent, each printed nicely in their kimonos, which I'm pretty sure hasn't been done in any Lego minifigures.  If you know of any, please let me know.

What bothered me about each of these sets is that they are too tall.  I didn't like the fact that each shopkeeper had to stand on a platform.  The counter heights were way too high, like over the minifigures head in some cases.

 I encountered this same problem in the Sembo french fries stand set.   The Sembo designer needs to make these stands and shops more in line with minifigure heights.   But that's just me, I guess. What do you think of these sets?  Do you think they look ok?  Let me know!

So I got my sets off Aliexpress for about $10 USD each or a bit lower if you buy all four sets. 
Thanks for looking and see you next time!  Bye!